Chicago's heroes
by lexiepedia
Summary: After getting caught up in the middle of a gang shooting, things start to change at the firehouse. The arrival of the new detective partnered up with Antonio stirs up quite a lot of emotions for the members of Firehouse 51, both good and bad, Kelly can't decide. Will Matt and Gabby finally have their chance or will they let it slip away again?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Matt could feel how his blood started to boil as he watched Mills sniff around Severide and Squad's truck instead of gathering up their gear. It had been like this for the last couple of days now. Mills kept forgetting his place in favour of scoring points with Squad and their lieutenant. It had happened ever since the Chief and Severide had voiced their opinion that they wanted Mills to move over to Squad. What annoyed Matt the most though was the fact that Mills seemed to think he had switched team already and that the Chief and Severide had gone behind his back.

Things had been good between himself and Severide for a while now. They had put the guilt concerning Darden's death behind them and had slowly started to build up a tentative friendship again. But Severide just had to go and ruin it again by messing with his team.

Mills really should know better as well since the first thing Matt told him when he joined their team was to know his place. It seemed like the candidate had some problems with that, in more ways than one.

"Leave his ass!" Matt said and slammed the door of the truck shut before he jumped into his passenger seat.

"Gladly." the rest of the guys answered. It seemed like it wasn't just Matt that Mills had been rubbing the wrong way with his behaviour.

Matt had to admit though, he was jealous of the candidate. Mills had what he wanted, and he wasn't talking about some spot on Squad. He had Gabby and if Matt had not been so stupid and blind, Gabby could have been with him right now instead of Mills. If he had not turned his cheek that night at the Christmas party, he could be the one laughing with Gabby on the couch in the common area or fooled around with her in the kitchen as they cooked.

That fact ate away at him and it surprised him how jealous he got every time he saw the two of them together. He had been the one to turn her down after all, unsure of his feelings so soon after his break up from Hallie. Yet he became the Green-Eyed monster the times he saw them being cute around the house.

Today was one of those days that the Green-Eyed monster rose its ugly head and came out to play. For Mills to abandon ship on top of that made Matt rather unwilling to be pleasant towards the candidate. The first thing he did when he got back to the house was to take out the mop from the supply closet. It was time to really teach the candidate his place and put him to work. They had been light on Mills since he first arrived and had not put him through the same hell as they have put the other candidates through since he proved himself to be one hell of a firefighter when they were out on calls. But he was only a candidate at the end of the day, and he was still on Truck 81 with Matt as his Lieutenant.

When Squad's truck rolled in and Mills jumped out, he wore an embarrassed look on his face. It was obvious that the message of his screw up had been received loud and clear. He walked over to Matt and accepted the mop that was handed to him.

"The toilets need to be cleaned, Candidate." Matt said.

As he walked of, he could hear the rest of the Squad laugh at the Candidate's unfortunate situation. But none of them came to his defence. They had all been forced to go through the very same thing when they first started out at the bottom of the ladder. Everyone knew that if you pissed off your Lieutenant in some way, you had to pay and do the dirty work.

Matt walked towards the common area and found Gabby sitting at one of the tables, along with Otis. She was telling him a story about her grandparents as she showed him a picture on her phone of said grandparents, standing outside Europe's oldest restaurant in Greece. Matt could tell that while the story meant something to Gabby, she wasn't just telling it to take a walk down memory lane, and Otis, the poor fellow, was playing straight into her hands.

It was nearly impossible for him to hide his smirk as Gabby smoothly transitioned the conversation into decorating Molly's, their newly brought bar. She was a wily one like that. Her grandparents were standing in front of an old antique door in the picture and Gabby wanted a door just like that one to lead into Molly's. It was a nice door he noted as he sat down in the seat next to her and grabbed the phone out of her hand. But how could he think otherwise when she spoke about it was such a passion. She was putting her everything she had into Molly's. Money, heart and soul. Because that is the kind of person that she was, she committed fully whenever she did something.

"There is a salvage place I use. It can be worth a look." he flicked in when Otis started to worry about the cost.

"Really?" the small, but oh so bright, smile that Gabby gave him was all it took for him to forget all about the crappy day he had had so far. To make Gabby happy and to get her to look at him with that tender emotion in her eyes, was one of the best feelings in the world. It warmed him to know that he had pleased her and there was a small part of him that hoped that she saw what it really was.

"Yeah."

"I'm done with the toilets, Lieutenant." a voice interrupted them, and Matt turned around to see Mills standing next to his chair.

"Good. The showers need a good cleaning too."

The two of them stared at each other, trying to figure out what the other person's game was and how they would react next, until Mills broke their stare to look over at Gabby. Matt did as well and saw how Gabby gave Mills a sympathetic smile, but she did not come to his defence either and Mills had to admit defeat and walk away.

It felt like a small victory to just watch Mills walk away, while he stayed behind with the girl. Event though the showdown technically wasn't about Gabby, it felt good to through a little shade on Mills in front of her, how petty that may sound. It remained unsaid that they were both in love with the same girl, but they both knew it and it currently fuelled the fire.

Matt turned back towards Gabby and looked into her deep, brown eyes and he was just about to lose himself in them when he was interrupted by the bell.

" _Squad 3. Truck 81. Ambulance 61. Drive by shooting…"_ the pair of them got up quickly and ran out to the trucks, joined by the rest of the house.

When they arrived at the scene, it wasn't pretty. Three cars had piled up in the middle of the road so badly that you could hardly tell where one ended and the other begun. It was one hell of a mess and the entire neighbourhood had come out of the comfort of their home to watch.

Matt ran over to the first car and looked inside. The man in the driver's seat had a gunshot wound to the head and was unresponsive. But the man in the passenger seat was awake, despite the gaping hole in his chest. Matt tried the handle and found the door jammed, but with a little help from Herrmann they managed to get it open so Dawson and Shay could do their job and stabilize the men and take them to the hospital.

There was nothing they could do for the driver, so they went for the passenger instead. Matt and Herrmann were helping the paramedics move him onto the gurney when a car came to a screeching halt by them and then three loud bangs bounced between the buildings surrounding the scene.

Everyone hit the ground to take cover. Gabby landed in front of him, slightly under the gurney, with a shocked expression on her face. She didn't look frightened when she met his eyes, but then again Matt wasn't all that surprised. One of the many things he liked about Gabriella Dawson was that she was though, she didn't scare easily or freeze up and back off in situations like these. It was an admirable trait, but it could also make her act recklessly. She would run in head first, without any concern for her own safety. But it was also what made her the kickass paramedic that everyone admired her for.

Three more gunshots rang out and glass and gravel rained down over them. After they heard the car drive off again at high speed everyone looked up, slightly startled, and took in their surroundings. The crowd that had watched them work was screaming and running in different directions to get away from the line of fire.

Matt's eyes automatically went over to Dawson. It was a reflex, not something he was aware of. He just had a need to know that she was alright. But the sight that met him, almost made his heart stop. Gabby was now sitting up in the same spot as before, holding onto her arm with her face taut up in pain. Everyone else on the scene was busy trying to get their victims out of the cars, in case the perpetrators came back a third time. But Matt only had eyes for Gabby, the other people in need completely out of his mind.

"Dawson!" he called out and gained the rest of the house's attention. He was by her side in seconds and cradled her in his arms. "Are you okay?"

"My arm…" she groaned, and Matt could see the blood coming from beneath her fingers.

"Chief!" Shay called. "We need to get this guy to hospital now or is not going to make it."

The Chief looked between them all quietly for a moment. From Shay and Severide, who had come up to them, to him and Dawson. Then he sprung into action.

"Mills!"

"Yeah, Chief?"

"You go into the ambulance with Dawson and Shay. Drive them over to Lakeshore. The rest of you get working on those cars, the other ambos are on the way."

Matt helped Gabby up and into the front seat of the ambulance as the rest of the guys got to work. Her face was taking on the same shade as a ghost and the blood kept flowing from the wound in her arm. He tried to stop the flow with some gauze he had gotten from Shay, but if she didn't get to the hospital in the next couple of minutes, he feared it could leave some permanent damage behind.

Tears had gathered in her eyes and it tugged on Matt's hear to see her in so much pain. She had gone from looking so fierce and ready for a fight, to so tiny and fragile it physically hurt him. He placed his free hand on her cheek and tried to offer her some sort of comfort.

"You're going to be just fine!" he said strongly just as Mills jumped into the driver's seat.

It was hard for him to let go of her and watch the ambulance take off. He knew that she was not going to be alone and that she knew most of the staff at the emergency unit at Lakeshore, but it didn't do much to calm him. He wanted to be there to hold her and make sure that she was alright, to hear from the doctor that there was no lasting damage. For a second there he had been, but Mills came took over his place. Or taken back his own place. Maybe it was just Matt who had filled in for Mills, he was Dawson's boyfriend after all.

Matt watched the ambulance until it disappeared around the corner before he went back to work. No matter how much he wanted to just stand there and think about Dawson and pray for her to be alright, he knew that he couldn't. There were people trapped inside the other cars that depended on him to get them out. Worrying had to wait.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Gabby sighed as she looked around the sterile environment, she was in. She had been sitting on the same bed, behind one of the many green curtains in the emergency room for over an hour now. The doctor had yet to return to discharge her. According to the x-rays, the bullet had only graced her arm without hitting any important nerves or bones, and after a couple of stiches she was apparently as good as new. The excruciating pain she had experienced in the ambulance on the way over here had now subsided into a dull ache thanks to the morphine they had provided her.

The frustration wasn't so much because she had to wait, but because of her eagerness to get back to work. She was feeling fine and wanted to get back to the house. To Matt. Specially to see Matt.

Ever since he left her in the ambulance, he has been on her mind constantly. How tenderly he had held her and the worry for her that had been apparent in his eyes. For years that had been reactions she had longed for from the handsome Lieutenant. And it felt just as amazing as she had imagined now that it finally happened. But it also confused her. It hadn't been that long since he had been with Hallie and had not showed her any interest beyond a caring friend. There had been moments, but they had ended before they even begun. And now that she was trying to move on and find happiness with Mills, since Matt had not been up for the part, he was suddenly everywhere. He would take her aside for private conversations, hug her in greeting and make more of an effort to spend time with her around the house, at Molly's or even after shifts sometimes.

Matt had always been the one she wanted to be with. It had been him she had lain awake thinking about late into the night, only to fall asleep and dream about their future together. Pete, he was an experiment to see if she could be happy with someone else, to love someone else. An experiment that seemed to fail. He was a sweet guy and in the beginning she had been happy. She had enjoyed spending time with him since they had a lot in common, but lately their relationship had started to fizzle. Gabby's feelings for him had slowly started to fade and lately he had been so obsessed with getting on to Squad that they had barley seen each other.

She was no longer happy being with someone else and Mills didn't do much to change her mind. When he did not blow her off, they argued. He was jealous of the attention Matt had been giving her and she was annoyed at him for the way he had behaved lately and found that the accusations Pete threw at her were unfounded. Matt was only helping her out and acted like a friend when she needed him. It all left her conflicted and wishing for something to change, because this was not what she longed for.

"I'm so sorry for the wait, but we got quite busy there for a while." Doctor Walker smiled as she came through the green drape. Gabby liked her. They had worked together on several occasions before when she and Shay had brought someone in.

"That's okay, but now I am really ready to get out of here."

"I understand." she laughed and looked down at her papers. "Where is that handsome boyfriend of yours?"

"Oh, he had to go back to work." Gabby mumbled and looked anywhere but at the doctor.

It was a lie. Pete had not in fact been called back to work, he had actually offered to stay with her, and had been quite adamant about it. It was just that she hadn't wanted him to stay. He doted on her and acted all caring and sweet, but it hadn't been Pete she wanted by her side to hold her hand, not anymore and not after Matt's sweet actions today. The more he had tried to comfort her, the further she had pulled away. She had insisted that he go back to the station and cover for her and told him that she would be over as soon as she got out of here.

"Well then, if you just sign here you are free to go." Doctor Walker handed over a sheet of paper and a pen. "This is some painkillers for you and as a paramedic you know how important it is to keep to the prescription."

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome Gabriella and next time I see you, you better not be the one on the gurney." Gabby signed the papers and quickly made her way outside and jumped into a cab, ready to get back to Firehouse 51.

As she walked up to the house, a sense of relief filled her as she saw that the ambo was the only vehicle missing in the rig. It sounded horrible even to her own ears, but she was glad they were out on a call. No matter how much she wanted to see her best friend, her being out on a call meant that Pete was as well and right now she really wanted to see Matt without his presence more. Her emotions were all over the place right now and she just wanted a moment with Matt without having to worry about how it would affect Pete. The adrenaline that had been running through her blood stream was slowly starting to wear off and she felt vulnerable and slightly tired. And no one gave more comforting hugs than Matt.

The guys on Squad were sitting at their designated table out on the rig and as she walked in, Kelly Severide of all people got up from his chair to greet her with open arms.

"Dawson!" he enveloped her in his strong arms before he pulled back without letting go completely. "Look at you, champ! You had us all worried there for a second." his voice was light and teasing but she could tell that her really meant it.

"You can't get rid if me that easily, Severide. It takes more than a bullet to stop me!" she teased back.

"I'm glad to hear it!" he smiled. "Come on, I know there's some people in there who is dying to see you."

With Severide's arm wrapped around her shoulders, she let herself be led through the firehouse and into the common area where everyone was currently lounging, trying to pass the time between calls. Mouch was in his usual seat on the couch, with his feet on the table. Herrmann and Otis were playing cards with Cruz, and Matt was reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee in his hand. It looked just like any other day.

When they noticed her and Severide walking in, they all jumped out of their seats and came up to greet her. She was passed around from arms to arms until she had been passed around by the entire team and came to stand in front of Mr Matt Casey. He was smiling at her and his blue eyes were full of laughter. He was gorgeous, and suddenly she could breathe a little easier. That smile is what she had been needing to see when she was at the hospital, it was contagious, calming and she could drown herself in his eyes when they sparkled like that.

In an attempt to not make a fool out of herself, Gabby stood back and waited for Matt to make the first move. But she did not have to wait for long. Matt immediately stepped forward and wrapped her up in the warmest of hugs. She immediately felt how her body started to relax in his embrace, it made her feel safe and she could have stayed there. The only people who even came close to evoke the same reaction was Shay and Antonio. Gabby reciprocated the embrace and wrapped her arms around his waist while burrowing a little closer to his chest.

"Thank you!" she whispered, so only Matt could hear her.

"Don't mention it." he murmured back. "I'm just glad that you are okay!"

Gabby stayed in his embrace for as long as she could without raising any suspicion before she reluctantly dragged herself back. It was just in time too, because in that exact moment Pete and Shay came back in from their call.

"Don't you dare do that to me again, Dawson!" Shay exclaimed and ran over to Gabby and wrapped her arms around her before Pete even had the chance.

It wasn't the first time Gabby had appreciated her best friend's flare for the dramatics and her fast thinking. That was the second time today she had saved her from a situation with Pete that she wasn't comfortable with.

Shay knew of Gabby's budding doubts about her relationship with Pete. In fact, she had been the one who had helped her make sense of her conflicting emotions and feelings of doubt and forced her to face them. If Gabby didn't know better, she would say that Shay was being a supportive friend.

If there was anyone who knew about the extent of her feelings for Matthew Casey, it was Shay, and it was no secret that Shay rooted for the two of them together. She had since long been Matt's biggest supporter. To help Gabby come to terms with her doubts about her relationship with Pete sooner, only enabled her to push Gabby to act on her feelings for Matt. Sure, Gabby knew that Shay cared, there were no one who cared as much as Shay. Gabby knew that Shay wanted her to be happy and if she had been happy with Mills, she was sure that Shay would leave it at that. But the truth of the matter is that she wasn't. Matt was the one who had the prime place in Gabby's heart and Shay knew that.

"You okay?" Mills asked as he peered at her from over Shay's shoulder.

"I'm fine. Light duty for a few weeks until it heals properly. Which means that I get to boss Shay to do all the dirty work."

"You do that anyways, so what's the difference?" teased Shay and pulled her along to the coffee maker where she poured them each a cup, while everyone in the room laughed at their antics.

"I'm glad to hear that Dawson!" came Chief's booming voice from behind them. "Just a heads up, Antonio and his partner from Intelligence is coming over before the shift ends to take all of your statements."

"There is not much we can tell them, Chief." Severide said.

"That might be true, but it needs to be done anyhow." and with that he walked off.

From the look on Pete's face, Gabby could tell that he was just bidding his time and waiting for an opportunity to pull her to the side and get her alone. He kept watching her every movement. But she just didn't have it in her to face him just yet. It was cowardly, but she needed a little time to gather her thoughts and figure out what to say when she broke things off. Because that was the only possible outcome, that became obvious today by her reactions to Pete's presence.

When she saw him move towards her with that look in his eyes, she knew that he wanted to talk. She put down her mug and turned towards Shay.

"I'm going to take a shower before Antonio arrives, I need to wash this day away."

"You need any help?" Shay winked.

"You wish honey!" she winked back before she walked off towards the showers.

In the privacy of the locker room Gabby stripped out of her clothes and walked naked towards the shower. With the water turned on to its hottest, she stepped under the stream and let the water scorch her skin. It helped her to relax and momentarily focus on something other than the stinging in her arm, and that is when the dam broke. She let herself slide to the floor of the shower and the feelings to overcome her.

In her days as a paramedic, Gabriella had seen lot of things, but she has never been through something quite like today. It wasn't the first time she had been put in the line of fire, but she had never been the target before or harmed. But it had shook her up more than she thought it would and she was kind of amazed that she had managed to keep it together for this long. But she felt safe here and it allowed herself to feel and give into what has been pressing on her all day.

Her tears mingled with water from the shower and she stayed curled up under the stream until there were no tears left. The hot water was no longer doing its job either, so she got up from the floor and dragged herself out form the shower before taking her time to get dressed. She wasn't quite ready to face the rest of the house just yet, so soon after crying her eyes out on the floor. But than again she knew that she would never be really ready to let anyone see her vulnerable.

"Dawson?" Shay's voice sounded from the entrance to the locker room. "Are you alright? What is taking you so long?"

"I'm fine. I just need a minute." she called back.

"Bullshit!" turning around she found Shay standing right behind her with her hands on her hips and one of her eyebrows raised. "You've been crying, that is not fine!"

"It's just been a rough day. That's all."

"Tell me about it!" Shay laughed. "But taking a bullet is not all that is bothering you, I know you Dawson."

Was she ready to say it out loud? Was it even fair to Pete to tell someone else before she had spoken to him? Because Pete had not really done something wrong apart from not being Matt. The two of them were just not right for each other, it was as simple as that. But that wouldn't make it hurt any less, she was afraid.

Then again, this was Shay, her best friend. People told their best friend things all the time. Especially, her and Shay.

"I have decided to break things off with Pete. It's the right thing to do, but it doesn't make it any less hard… I just…"

Shay looked at her with a sad, understanding smile. No one had ever accused the two of them of being easy women. They were complicated to understand, with so many layers that you were lucky if you managed to get through the first few before you got old and grey. The two of them were the same, strong willed and passionate, which is why they understood each other better than anyone else.

"How about you come home with me tomorrow after shift, we drink some beer or wine and then you stay the night." that is why Leslie Shay was her best friend.

"Are you propositioning me, Leslie Shay?" things were getting far too heavy for work and no alcohol.

"You bet! Now, Mouch had to go and take care of some paperwork, which means the couch is up for grabs. Come on!"

Gabby let out a laugh and allowed Shay to drag her out of the locker room. And true to her words, both the couch and the remote was free. This was very rare, and they were no fools to pass up and opportunity like this one. They curled up on the couch together and Gabby laid her head in Shay's lap, seeking out comfort without having to voice it out loud.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Damn Antonio Dawson for being late. She had been perfectly happy with spending her late lunch hour with some of her girlfriends at their favourite deli when her partner started to blow up her phone. There was no other man that she knew, except him, that dared hassle her to hurry up and then turn up late himself.

She was standing outside of Firehouse 51 where his sister and her friend worked, and she had been for the past fifteen minutes. But there was still no sign of Antonio. Leah took out phone and sent him another angry text, telling him the he better hurry the hell up.

" _Head on in, I'll be there in five minutes."_ Figures.

There was a perfectly good explanation to why she didn't want to go into this firehouse on her own. A reason her reliable partner knew about but seemed to have forgotten all about. The question was if she was able to do as he said. To stand out here and wait wasn't an option. She was not a coward and she did not expose her own weakness, which she would if she did not walk into that house. So she took the bull by it's horn and started the trek up to the gates.

Upon her entry, a tall dark-haired man in the distance caught her attention. He had one impressive backboard that stretched the t-shirt he was wearing across the shoulders. When he turned around, "tall, dark and handsome" suddenly got a whole new meaning to Leah. He was the definition of the expression and everything about his person drew her in. It was clear that he was dangerous and everything she was trying to stay away from, but he was the only one around. The fact that she was a goner the second she looked into his eyes made no difference.

"Excuse me?" she called out as she approached him. "Could you please point me in the direction of Chief Boden?"

"Sure…" he said apprehensively with a big smirk as his eyes roamed over her form. She could feel how his gaze traced her up and down. "Who are you?"

"Detective Leah Voight. I'm here about the shooting your house was involved in earlier today."

"Lieutenant Kelly Severide." he stretched out his hand for her to shake. "Voight, you say? Any relation to Hank Voight?"

"He's my father." she answered shortly, shutting down the conversation. Kelly seemed to receive the message and stopped talking. Instead he started to lead her through the hallways of the firehouse towards some offices at the end.

Leah hated that question more than anything, because her answer always made people look at her differently. They all got that same look that the Lieutenant just got. Because of the people she shared last name with, everyone automatically presumed her to be untrustworthy and that hurt her more than she liked to admit.

But it also pissed her off beyond belief that people had the gall to judge people without even bothering to get to know them, let alone talk with them long enough to create their own opinion. Because most of the time they were wrong and the people judging almost always had their own short comings or skeletons they didn't wish for other people to find out. It was disgusting and it scared her to know what the human race was capable of doing to each other.

"Well this is the Chief." the Lieutenant said and came to a stop in front of the last office door. Through the glass, Leah could see a large, dark man and she immediately understood why people would have respect for the man. He screamed authority and it was slightly intimidating.

"Thank you!"

"No problem." he said and gave potent grin before he walked off. If she didn't have a better poker face than she did, she would have probably blushed like a little school right there and then. That man obviously had no problems with the ladies what so ever.

Her meeting with the Chief was brief and as he leads her out into the main area, she could feel how her pulse rose slightly with every step. She knew of the history that existed between the house and her father very well. It was the reason why her father had finally landed himself in prison after all his years working both sides of the law. She could only imagine the aggro that remained. Attempted murder wasn't something you got over in a hurry.

Much to her surprised and delight, they bumped into Antonio and two officers from the station, Atwater and Burgess she liked to recall. She knew that she should probably know their name since they worked rather closely with her unit, but she had only been a part of district 21 for two weeks. It was going to take some time.

"You okay?" Antonio asked.

"I'm good." she smiled stiffly. She really wasn't, she wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. The chief and the officers didn't need to know that though. "But you owe me a sandwich for interrupting my lunch."

"It comes with the territory kid. Get used to it."

"You still owe me lunch." she smirked and pushed him out of the way so that she could enter the room before him. It was time.

Kelly watched as the intriguing detective from earlier entered the room before Dawson's brother Antonio and he had to seriously bite his tongue hard to not groan out loud at the sight she made. She might be the daughter of a dog cop that went after his best friend and he shouldn't be thinking along these lines, but what a sight. She was standing at the front of the room, her silver star attached to the hem of her figure-hugging jeans, and her enchanting green eyes were staring right at him.

Beautiful, tough, badass brunettes were his vice and Detective Leah Voight checked all four boxes. You did not become a part of the intelligence unit if you weren't able to handle yourself, no matter who your father was.

His previous track record with women lately really should discourage him from even looking at the petite brown-haired detective with the hourglass figure, but she made it really hard to resist. She was simply beautiful, and that is not a word that Kelly used very often when it came to women. Gorgeous and hot maybe, but not beautiful. Leah was though. There was something so pure and inartificial about her that it felt wrong to call her anything but, and Kelly found himself unable to tear his eyes away from her.

"Can I have your attention!" the Chief called and waited for them all to gather at the long table. "You all already know Antonio, and this is his partner Detective Leah Voight, they are here to take your statements of what happened earlier today."

Kelly looked to Matt as the Chief spoke and could see how his shoulders tensed up at the mention of Leah's last name. He had the odd feeling that no matter how much time that passed, Matt would never be able to move past what had gone down between himself and Hank Voight. In a way Kelly couldn't blame his friend. To get over someone ordering a hit on one's person is a lot to ask and things hadn't exactly ended on a positive note. They were still very much on each other's throats when Voight was sent to prison.

To then suddenly have his daughter standing in front of him without any notice was probably quite the shock. This was not going to end well.

"Voight?" Matt spit out as he took a step out of the crowd to speak. "Is she related to Hank?" he looked over at the chief.

"Yes, she is his daughter."

"His daughter?" Matt yelled. "They let her be a cop after what her father has done, who was dirty for years?! How is that even possible?" the detective in question visibly stiffened up at Matt's harsh words and the light in her green eyes dimmed. It was clear to everyone in that room that she was steeling herself for a fight.

"And you Antonio," Matt turned his furious gaze onto the man. "You were the one who put Voight behind bars and now you're his daughter's partner? How does that happen?" the chief was about to speak up, but the main target of Matt's rant interrupted him.

"Because, despite what you might think Mr Casey, I am not dirty. I had not been in contact with my father for several years up until a few weeks ago, because I broke all contact with him the day he chose thugs over his own daughter. What my father did to you was inexcusable, I won't try to justify his actions, but it does not give you the right to judge me just because I share the same last name! You know nothing about me. Are we clear?" she pinned Matt with a really hard glare to make sure her words really got through before she spun on her heel and started to walk out of the room. "I'll see you back at the station, Antonio."

The air in the room was thick after she left. Nobody seemed to know what to say or do, and for a second Kelly had the sudden urge to slap his friend over the head. He knew that his friend would not react well to the news, but he had not anticipated the kind of outburst he had just witnessed. Because out of the two of them, Casey was the most level headed one who listened to reason and all the facts. And he knew what it was like to be judged and to pay for his own parents' deeds. Kelly didn't actually think that Casey would do that some else. Matthew Casey was a good, kind hearted guy who was everyone's friend. But that guy had not been present in the room just now.

A slight cough from Antonio brought everyone back to the present and their attention to the front of the room where he stood with his mouth pressed into a hard line.

"Before we start to take your statements, I just want to make one thing clear. I have known Leah since she graduated from the academy and got signed up as my patrol partner. During all my years as cop, she is by far the best partner I have ever had. Despite what you might think, her father's choices have hurt her more than anyone else and I though you guys, if anyone, knew that everyone is their own person. I guess I was wrong." as he spoke his last words, Antonio looked directly at Matt and it was clear that they were meant especially for him.

"Now, if you can come in one at the time into the next room, we will get these statements out of the way."

Mouch got up first, mumbling something about getting it over with so he could get back to the couch before the game started. The rest of them spread through the house and went back to doing their own business. Including Kelly.

He followed his men back out to the rig where they had been in the middle of checking the tools in the truck when they had been interrupted. That is when he saw the detective again. She was leaning her hands against the hood of a car by the curb with her back hunched over. Her entire posture screamed for people to leave her alone, and even though that Kelly didn't know her from a load of wood, he was still concerned for her welfare.

"You're still here!" he called out to catch her attention as he approached her.

"Yeah, well it's hard to leave when your partner is your ride and he is still inside." she laughed bitterly and turned around to sit on the hood instead.

"Look, I'm sorry about Casey! What he said wasn't fare."

"Don't, I sort of expected it when I walked in here. My father tends to have that effect on people."

The way people spoke about her father threw Kelly for a curve. Her choice of words and the subtle hint of bitterness behind them told him that she wasn't particularly fond of her father. But why was she still a part of his unit? If she didn't get along with her then why was she insisting on working with him, there were plenty more districts and posh jobs to choose from.

"May I ask what happened between the two of you? You can tell me to mind my own business, but it's just… you work with the man, but you don't seem very happy with him?"

"I-" Kelly watched as her eyes zoomed out into space as she searched for the right words. "I've always looked up to my father when I was younger, he was my hero who could do no wrong. When I started working as a cop, I heard the rumours that were going around, but I never though much of them since that was not the man I saw or knew. The two pictures didn't mash for me until one night out on the job where I got to see that side of him myself. In that moment, my whole world got turned upside down."

Kelly understood that feeling all too well. It was eerily familiar to his own. He'd heard about his father's track record with women, but he had never really taken it to heart until recently when a sister he never knew about turned up after his father left his new wife and young children. Pretty much like he had done to Kelly and his mother. Suddenly the view of a man you though you knew changed and became nothing like you expected.

"Dad tried to blow it off like it was no big deal, but I felt so let down and disappointed. As I could not get over the feeling of betrayal and he refused to stop or see the problem with his actions, we stopped talking. To him it was just a means to and end, to stop the criminals and still be able to do his job. I did not see it that way."

"Then why do you work with him?" she seemed so far away in her own memories that Kelly didn't event think she registered to whom she was talking to anymore.

"Initially because of Antonio. I came back to the 21:th because he asked me too. It's a great job and I love working with Antonio, but I think that some masochistic and naïve part of me just wants to be close to my dad again. I still love him, I'm just really angry and hurt."

"I can understand that. I don't know how many times I have approached my dad over the years under the disguise of work. I didn't know any other way."

"Is he a firefighter as well?"

"Yeah, he even belonged to this house back in his glory days."

"So it's in the blood then?" Leah winked and Kelly think his heart stopped for a second. A stunning woman was standing next to him and unknowingly quoting him, to him. If that didn't pike his interest, he didn't know what would.

"Yeah." he shook his head out of the gutter and plastered on a smirk to make up for his momentarily lack of judgement. "I just hope I turn out to be a better father than him one day." Leah gave him an understanding smile and then they just stood there in silence.

Kelly was stunned by the woman next to him. From the little she had told him, they were rather alike in a sense and he was eager to know more about her.


End file.
